Spasm or fracture? If pacer’s injury is muscular, he could be fit in time. Bone issue may lead to much longer rehab
CHENNAI: The defeat in Australia is still sinking in, but there’s not much time left to sulk over it. In a week’s time, the provisional squad for the Champions Trophy (CT) will be announced and all eyes will be on Jasprit Bumrah‘s availability.
The spearhead of the Indian attack suffered from back spasms during the Test match in Sydney, which meant he couldn’t bowl in the second innings, leading to an easy victory for Australia. Now, India play their first CT match on February 20 in Dubai, which means he has six weeks to get fit.
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People who have suffered from similar injuries and doctors treating them believe that “if it is a back spasm as the team management said”, Bumrah should be fit for CT.
But if it is a Grade 1 stress fracture, as suggested by some reports in social media, Bumrah could be out for some time.
“It does depend on the final diagnosis of the injury. Back spasm is normally an orange light, it tells you that something worse could be in store and you need to stop at that point… Having suffered a lower back stress fracture earlier, Bumrah must have read the signs at the right time and decided to stop in Sydney,” a former India Test bowler who had to deal with a similar injury which curtailed his international career, told TOI.
According to him, if it’s not a stress fracture, the fourth week of January could be the right time to resume training, which should mean Bumrah would be available for CT.
Former India trainer Ramji Srinivasan, who has dealt with players suffering such injuries, isn’t so sure about the nature of the injury. “I agree that if it is only spasms, he should be fit. In fact, he might be feeling alright even before he boarded the flight back home. But I am not so sure about it. The injury is related to stress, which is a direct result of playing too much cricket. If it is anything between a Grade 1 to Grade 3 injury related to stress fracture, it can take up to one to six months of recovery,” Ramji told TOI.
Over the years, pace bowlers like Dennis Lillee, Waqar Younis, Shane Bond, Lakshmipathy Balaji, Varun Aaron and Pat Cummins suffered from injuries that Bumrah had to deal with in 2022-23. Coming back from those injuries, bowlers tend to read the signs better. Bumrah, now 31, knew that a series was on the line in Sydney, still he listened to his body and stopped.
“That comes from maturity. It must have been a tremendous mental battle to stop himself from bowling in that second innings in SCG. But those are the difficult decisions that a pace bowler, who has dealt with difficult injuries before, has to take,” the former India pacer said.
He added that there is a strong possibility that the injury hasn’t recurred at the same spot where it happened before, because following surgery that area normally gets mended. “Most likely, this time he felt a tightness in the upper back. The reports have gone to his surgeon, we should have the final results very soon. My hunch is he will be part of the first squad that will be announced for CT. After all, you can have an injury replacement later,” the pacer said.
Ramji, though, is slightly wary of a decision like that. “Bumrah is a treasure and he should be handled with care. A CT is not the end of the world. If there is the slightest doubt, he shouldn’t be in the squad. Five back-to-back Test matches isn’t something he has ever played in his cricketing career,” the top trainer said.
In fact, it’s not just CT. The IPL will follow soon, where the burden of Mumbai Indians’ bowling attack will be on Bumrah’s shoulders. “If it’s not a fracture there’s no problem in Bumrah playing IPL too. But what’s important is he gets a two-week break during the tournament. It shouldn’t be 14 games on the bounce,” the paceman said.
